Just how are the rich getting richer? The COVID pandemic showed more starkly than ever how mega billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Laurene Powell Jobs, Klaus Scwhaab and others can profit even more from disasters than from good times. Did they merely provide goods and services more creatively and ingeniously than competitors? The web...
Tag: jun 15 2021
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WHAT IS THE VALUE OF CRYPTOS AND BLOCKCHAINS?
Given the plunge of many average investors into cryptos dating from January 2021, and the volatility that has characterized their history, it’s well worth examining the recent doubts and government rumblings about them. Some of the most commonly voiced objections about cryptocurrencies are that they: Exist only on computers Aren’t “backed” by anything Can (or...
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PENTAGON: KEEP THE 20 YEAR LOSING AFGHAN WAR GOING
As we have continually noted over the years, President Dwight David Eisenhower, who, as Supreme Allied Commander during World War II and two term U.S. president had warned the nation in his 17 January 1961 farewell address that the military/industrial complex was robbing the nation of the genius of the scientists, sweat of the labors...
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ISRAEL CONDUCTS SERIES OF DEADLY AIRSTRIKES IN SYRIA
It didn’t make the U.S. news, but last week Israel conducted a series of deadly airstrikes in Syria and reportedly targeted military sites in Damascus, Homs, Hama, and Latakia. Al Jazeera, citing Syria’s SANA news agency, reported that the airstrikes occurred last Tuesday and Israeli planes fired the missiles from Lebanese air space. The Syrian Observatory for Human...
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IRAN DEPLOYS WARSHIP TO ATLANTIC
An Iranian destroyer and support vessel have reached the Atlantic Ocean and their destination is believed to be Venezuela, The Associated Press reported, citing U.S. officials. The report identified the ships as the destroyer Sahand and the Makran, which has been described as an intelligence-gathering vessel. An Iranian admiral told The AP only that the mission is the longest...
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HONG KONG’S FUTURE AS GLOBAL FINANCIAL HUB IN JEOPARDY
It is being reported that Hong Kong’s role as a global financial hub is in question due to the city’s inability to reopen its borders and the unwillingness of its population to get the COVID Jab. “We are effectively signaling that we are closed for business,” an American banker in the city told The Financial Times....
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CHINA PUTS BRAKES ON ITS EFFORT TO REDUCE EMISSIONS
China’s carbon dioxide emissions rose 9 percent in the first quarter of 2021, Reuters reported. The report said 70 percent of its surge was due to the increased consumption of coal. The Wall Street Journal reported that China’s President Xi Jinping pledged to achieve net-zero emissions by 2060. The country is the world’s worst emitter. The report pointed out...
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NATO LEADERS SIDE WITH BIDEN, DECLARE CHINA A GLOBAL SECURITY CHALLENGE
President Joe Biden made his first visit to Europe and held high-profile meetings at the G-7 conference in the English coastline resort of Carbis Bay and then with NATO members in Brussels. And a top focus during both meetings was a country that was not even there: China. Biden, who has made countering China a...
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CHINA-EUROPE FREIGHT TRAINS: SHARP JUMP IN SHIPMENTS
While America’s infrastructure keeps rotting and Washington remains unwilling to rebuild it as it instead directs trillions of dollars into the military/industrial/intelligence complex each year, China’s infrastructure development keeps speeding ahead. It was reported last week that China-Europe freight trains, as of May 2021, transported 3.4 million twenty-foot equivalent units to 22 European cities, which...
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U.S. SENATE PASSES LAW AIMING TO COUNTER BEIJING IN TECH
The U.S. Senate, in a 68-32 vote, passed a $250 billion bill last Tuesday it hopes will allow Washington to counter China’s technological and military growth. The Washington Post reported that the vote was a “rare accord” between Democrat and Republican members. The paper reported that about $50 billion in the funds are earmarked for computer...